“Policy challenge: How to price higher education & ensure access”

“In higher education, we have three choices. One, we can have a government-dominated system where education is subsidised. Two, we can allow private universities and colleges to come up with the freedom to charge whatever the market can bear. Three, we can allow private institutions freer entry but regulate fees and make provisions for subsidising needy students.

In non-professional courses, we still have the first model. In professional education, we have attempted to move towards the third model but have ended up closer to the second one. There is regulation of fees in some areas but this only covers the official fee. The official fee is often only a small component of the overall fee, with a large component being collected under the table. ”